MINNEAPOLIS _ Since the trade deadline, the offense has been there on a nightly basis for the Timberwolves. The defense has been a work in progress, but at least the Wolves have been able to score in most games they've played.
That wasn't the case on Sunday, as their shotmaking deserted in a 111-91 loss to Dallas, who was playing without All-Star Luka Doncic.
The Mavericks didn't miss Doncic much on Sunday as Kristaps Porzingis picked up the slack in his absence with a 38-point, 13-rebound performance against the undersized Wolves.
The Wolves started the game missing 11 of their first 12 shots and it didn't get much better from there. They shot just 36% for the game with D'Angelo Russell leading the way with 16 points on just 6 of 18 shooting. Malik Beasley added 14.
Seth Curry also helped ease the loss of Doncic for the Mavericks with 27 points.
Sunday's tip time, 2:30 p.m. aligns with a lot of players' nap times on game days and even practice days, and the Wolves came out sleep in the opening minutes.
They shot just 1-for-12 to start the game. Their only saving grace was that the Mavericks weren't much better and couldn't take advantage of it. Dallas led just 8-2 when Ryan Saunders called a timeout at the 8:21 mark.
From there, things got a little better for the Wolves, who shot 9 of 15 the rest of the quarter, and they trailed just 28-24. That was their best stretch of the day. During the quarter, Saunders earned a technical for arguing the Wolves should have gotten more foul calls, especially inside.
The second quarter wasn't as kind as the end of the first, as Dallas shot out to a quick 7-0 run behind Tim Hardaway Jr. and opened what was its largest lead of the game to that point at 11. The Mavericks would push that to 15 on a Porzingis three-pointer. Later in the quarter Curry got going with eight points on three consecutive Mavericks possessions to go with another four-point play later in the quarter. The Wolves sluggish offensive performance kept them well behind at the half, 63-44.
The start of the third quarter mirrored the start of the second, with Dallas rattling off another 7-0 run to increase its lead 26. Like the second quarter, Saunders called another timeout to regroup. The Wolves would only get as close as 13, as a late 12-3 run made it 78-65, but Kelan Martin fouled Porzingis on the final shot of the quarter, and Dallas carried a 16-point lead into the fourth. The Wolves held the Mavericks to just 18 points in the third, but their cold shooting wouldn't let them capitalize.
The Wolves never threatened in the fourth as Dallas cruised to the win.
